Old smelling boxwood

Don't use a supposed non-toxicity as a reason to avoid wearing a dust mask.

Found this link.

If you find masks to be too hot then get this style. Well worth the time and trouble to prevent breathing problems. At $2 a turned bowl -- if you throw the mask away it seems a cheap additional expense to me. I can use on for several days -- unless I belt sand a dirty floor -- then it is one use of the mask due to the heavy contamination of the mask.

Hi Gerard, I know you asked specifically re _OLD boxwood and I don't know where your's lurked for a century, but I do know that English Boxwood bushes/trees have a distinctive odor that's in the nose of the smeller; either cat piss or old wine. :) The odor does seem to attract bugs so I suspect there is greater risk from molds and wood dust than insecticides.

Your 'smell of old church' description reminds me of the little Protestant boy's answer when asked by the Catholic lad if they swung incense in his church: "no we have to take a bath Saturday night and the church has a big air conditioner". :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

"odor does _NOT_ seem to attract bugs.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Thank you for your reply. I use a powered air-respirator. If insecticides come free as gas, then a particle filter isn't any help I guess. That's why I want to find out if the insecticide is in the wood or not.

Hi Arch, The boxwood has the same origin as I do: the wet Netherlands. Old wine is more close than cat piss, but some churches come more close. I wonder what boxwood, cat piss, old wine and churches have in common;-) BTW: since I got infected by the woodturning virus, I found that:

- there's really a lot of information about woodturning on the internet,

- since most of that is in English, I am learning woodturning and English at the same time,

- people in this newsgroup are of a special kind; could it be that working with the hands and brains simultaneously has such a positive effect on human beings?

That's a really good protestant who knows his protestant roots !-)

Gerard, if you have learned woodturning as well as you have learned English, this NG will insist that you stop lurking and start posting regularly.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Very good. Someone who realizes the volatiles are the real danger in wood dust.

What insecticides were in use a hundred years ago? Heavy metals, perhaps. Organophosphates, the really deadly stuff, was unheard of. Heavy metal salts are poorly soluble, and are not actively transported by the plant, so any residual amount would be vanishingly small.

Simple dust mask would do. Now, as to the products of damp and neglect, they present a greater, though still small possibility of allergic reaction. The molds and their chemical by-products are the common smell in affected organic matter.

You're right Arch,

I will do as the NG commands, but there are other things as well that need my attention: friends, family, some rebuilding at home...

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Thank you for your very informative answer. There are some woodworm holes in the wood.